This morning, the House voted to codify access to birth control. It did so in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, as well as Justice Clarence Thomas’s suggestion that the court should revisit rights to gay marriage and birth control.
You would think birth control is a fairly uncontroversial issue these days. Apparently, it isn’t for Republicans. The House voted 228-195 to support codifying a woman’s right to birth control.
This means that 195 Republicans are fully on board with letting states make birth control illegal. And unsurprisingly, all 195 of these Republicans oppose abortion access, too.
Personally, I’m dumbfounded. Never would I have expected so many Republicans to not support the most basic family planning. It’s truly as though these far-right extremists just want women to be baby factories, with opportunities for career growth or just to have a say in the direction of their life completely denied.
What’s more shocking, though, is which Republicans voted against this fundamental right. Most Republicans in competitive elections voted No, and that includes two running for re-election in California in liberal-leaning districts: Congressman Mike Garcia, who after only winning by 300 votes now is running for re-election in a much more liberal district (CA-27) due to redistricting, and David Valadao, who also barely won, and also now has a more liberal and more urban district (CA-22).
In the 2020 elections, voters in both these districts chose President Biden over Donald Trump by a margin greater than 12%!
Both Mike Garcia and David Valadao are vulnerable. Even if 2022 ends up being a bad year for Democrats in the midterms, these two Republicans could very well defy national trends and lose.
And now that they’re on record opposing birth control...well, let’s just say their chances of winning look even more slim.
We can defeat both of these regressive, far-right extremists. But to do that, they need our support.
Both candidates have strong Democratic challengers:
- Christy Smith, a former assemblywoman who lost to Garcia by 300 votes in his more conservative district, is now running a strong campaign to defeat him.
- Rudy Salas, a current assemblyman from the Central Valley, is running a great campaign against David Valadao.
There is another good sign that both of these Democrats can win. In California primary elections, Republicans historically overperform. However, in the primary elections that just occurred, both Mike Garcia and David Valadao received less than 50% of the vote, showing that they’re not even popular or well-liked in their districts!
The time for us to take action is now.
I’ve set up an ActBlue fundraiser for both Christy Smith and Rudy Salas, specifically in response to Garcia’s and Valadao’s vote against access to birth control. Every dollar we give to these candidates can go a long way—Just a $5 donation will allow social media ads to be boosted to more people, more mailers to be sent out to more addresses, and more paid canvassers who can fit the pavement and tell voters how extreme Garcia and Valadao are.
Please click the following link and make a donation of an amount you can afford—whether $5, $20, or $200—to Christy Smith and Rudy Salas.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/donate-to-opponents-of-birth-control
You can also share this fundraiser on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms. You can do so by clicking the “Facebook” and “Twitter” buttons at the top of this page to share this blog post, or clicking either of the following links to share the ActBlue fundraiser directly:
Click here to share on Facebook.
Click here to share on Twitter.
You can also email the fundraiser to friends, family, or anyone you know who recognizes the fundamental need for a right to access birth control. The more we spread the word, and the more who make donations, the bigger an impact we can have!
Another option is to volunteer for either Rudy Salas or Christy Smith. If you live in the Los Angeles area (near CA-27) or the Central Valley (near CA-22), this could be a great way to help. Even if you don’t live near these districts, you can still phonebank, textbank, or write postcards. Find volunteer information for both candidates at the following links:
Volunteer sign up for Christy Smith
Volunteer opportunities for Christy Smith on Mobilize.us
Volunteer opportunities for Rudy Salas
Lastly, I’d like to ask that folks please consider clicking the “Recommend” button for this blog post to help it get seen by more individuals on Daily Kos. With the power of Daily Kos, we can definitely help fundraise for these candidates and make a big impact.
We live in scary times, but by working together and stepping up, we can defeat these atrocious Republicans. We can help elect Christy Smith and Rudy Salas, and make our representation in Congress significantly better. Let’s get to work and do what we can to help!
(Photo by Teddy Tavan on StockSnap.)